Phantom - Chapter 07

“You’re kidding, right?” Evony asked, her rage dripping off every word.

With a heavy heart, Eric slowly shook his head.

After his visit to the Vault, Eric hadn’t gone straight back home. He needed to get his thoughts in order before he told his teammates the truth about the Tournament, what they had to do and that they would be going into real combat, whether they wanted to or not. Laila had found him by the lakeside after he hadn’t come back following the announcement, and the two of them had talked it over first and then went home.

Then, they had gathered the others and Eric had told them everything.

“Please…tell me you’re joking,” Kaida pleaded, her voice shaking.

“I’m not,” Eric said.

Laila lowered her head to her knees, Kiara frowned and bit one of her nails, Evony and Kaida were at a loss for words, Ajax hadn’t said anything or moved since Eric had started talking, Connor was scowling and digging his toes into his shoes, and Elthia hid within Jasmine’s arms, the latter of which had an unpleasant expression on her face.

Ajax leapt up, stormed to the wall and smashed his fist into it hard. “Those bastards! They used the Tournament to do something this cruel! Even after everything we’ve been through?”

“Yeah,” Eric whispered.

Ajax ground his teeth together, his body shaking from his overflowing rage.

For Ajax, who had always wanted to fight in the Ferris Tournaments, who had spent his entire life training to be a Guardian and the reward that he got for his life’s work was an early ticket into a real war.

“How did Dead Eye and the others take it?” Jasmine asked.

“They were angry, but they seemed like they would do it even if they hadn’t been asked,” Eric replied.

“Alexis?” Connor followed up.

“Terrified.”

Ajax threw another fist into the wall. “I’m going to go call her real quick,” He stormed out of the room.

“We’re attacking actual Phantom bases?” Kiara mumbled, turning away from them. “What the hell are they thinking?”

“Is there really nothing we can do about this?” Elthia pleaded and Eric still shook his head. “What if you just talked with-?”

“Elthia, give it up,” Evony curtly said. “The Headmistress has made her decision and we have to keep to it, as much as we don’t want to.”

“What if…” Connor started to say, but he cut himself off, shaking his head. “Eric, is there really nothing we can do about this?”

“No. I’m so sorry,” Eric replied.

He looked at each of them in turn and, upon seeing their faces, he felt like he would break down in tears in front of them. His hands instinctively shook, but he forced his eyes shut and steeled himself as best he could.

“Excuse me,” He said meekly, quickly walking upstairs and to his room.

“Eric!” Kaida cried, following close behind.

“How…Do you think we should ask Mrs Yuuko for another of those potions?” Kiara suggested, floating back around.

“Maybe,” Jasmine said softly. Elthia hugged her tighter and Jasmine bit her lip hard. “But I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

***

Eric slammed his bedroom door shut behind him and collapsed against it, curling into a ball.

His entire body began to shake and the tears swelled in his eyes, threatening to burst free like water from a dam.

Even after he had spent the best part of two hours wandering around the school, trying to get his thoughts in order and process everything that had just been thrown at him, Eric still couldn’t comprehend it all. He was terrified, not just for himself but for his team, and Eric’s vision turned black whenever he thought about the fact that he would have to kill people.

He had sort of hoped that after killing Bunny’s puppets and the simulations of people in the Tournament, he would be used to the idea of other people’s lives. However, Eric had made the distinction in his mind between simulations and real-world killing which went against the very point of his training.

Eric, you shouldn’t worry about it so much, Lucifer told him. When the adrenaline kicks in or if you see something unforgivable, your body should instinctively move or-

“That’s not the point!” Eric yelled into his knees. “I know how painful it is when someone tries to take your life and…” He dug his fingers into his legs. “Now I have to inflict that pain on other people.”

Are you unable to do it even if they are monsters? Or murderers?

“I-!” Eric yelled, shooting back up but he slowly lowered his head back into his knees. “I…don’t know.”

Then, think of it like this. Lucifer materialised before him. If you don’t kill them, they might kill someone you care about.

A dark thought rose in Eric’s mind; he could kill people if they threatened those he cared for.

Could he really kill people with such a selfish reason in mind? Wouldn’t that be crossing a line that he could never come back from? Wouldn’t it change him as a person? Wouldn’t it make him a monster like Bunny or T, even if he had a better reason than they did?

Eric didn’t know and that terrified him.

His mind became a mess with all parts of his mind fighting one another, each telling him different actions to take, each telling him what was right and what was wrong and, soon enough, Eric didn’t understand what he was thinking himself.

A soft knock at his door broke through his thoughts, snapping him out of it.

“Eric, it’s me,” Kaida said gently, breaking through the dark thoughts in his head. “Are…you okay?” She grunted and collapsed against the door, putting her head on it. “Of course you’re not. How could you be? I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on in your head and, as much as I’d love to know, I don’t want to put you in a worse place than you already are.”

They sat in silence for a few, painful seconds before Kaida spoke up again.

“I…I want to tell you something, and I want you to listen to me until the end, okay? It’s…it’s something I’ve…kept from you for years. I’ve…” She exhaled slowly and whispered, “I’ve killed someone before. It was back when we were in Secondary School when we were in Year Ten. It was…some street punk, just some kid who tried to rob the wrong person and…even though it was an accident…I killed them. Burnt him to a crisp.” She winced and bit her lip. “I can still smell the burning even now…and I hate it.

“Back then, after I had killed for the first time, I…I hated myself and I felt a terrific amount of guilt crushing me, telling myself that I was a monster and that I wasn’t human anymore. I was alone when I did that and, well, I’m in a place in my life where, as much as I hated what I did, I’ve…learnt to live with it.”

“…How?” Eric asked quietly.

“Because I think about what I’ve got to live for, and I try to push forward with my life regardless of what it throws at me. You taught me that and, whenever I start to feel like I did back then, I repeat those words to myself in my head again and again, like a magic chant, until it calms me back down. Killing and the fear of dying, they’re…terrible feelings, the kind I wouldn’t wish on anyone but, if you have to suffer them, it’s better to do it with people around you who can support you.

“No matter what happens, no matter how you feel or how much you lose your way, I and the others will be with you no matter what and we’ll protect you, and I…” She blushed and smiled bashfully. “I’d love you no matter what happened.”

“Eh?” Eric inadvertently cried, his body heating up and his cheeks turning red. “A-Ah, I get it. You mean like a friend, right?”

Kaida didn’t reply.

“…Seriously?”

“…Yeah.”

Eric smiled at first, but he quickly lost his smile and closed his eyes. “If…If I did something unforgivable like killing a lot of people, would you still love me?” Eric asked.

“Then, let me ask you this, Eric,” Kaida said. “Would you be able to keep loving someone you had fallen for if they had killed someone?”

“…Yeah, because…I didn’t know that they had killed anyone until just now.”

It was Kaida’s turn to get embarrassed.

“E-E-E-Eric?” Kaida stammered, her face bright red. “Seriously?”

“…Yeah.”

Kaida’s expression became more blissful than it had ever been and she stifled a small laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Eric demanded.

“Well,” Kaida said through her laugh. “I mean, the confession that I had always wanted to do and hear happened just now in the most unusual way ever.”

Eric chuckled a little. “Yeah, I guess.”

“We should head back before the others get worried,” Kaida said.

“Yeah, I guess we should.,” Eric replied.

He opened his door, took her hand in his and went back downstairs.

***

Michael Angelson was stood on the rooftop of a block of flats towards the outskirts of Imperial from which he could see the entire city, including the bridge to Ferris.

“It really hasn’t changed that much,” Michael said, smiling a little. He heard footsteps approach behind him and he frowned. “You’re late.”

He looked over his shoulder and saw a cloaked figure behind him.

They were dressed in a brown cloak with its hood raised and a wooden mask which covered their face, a red eye pattern painted onto it. They were also wearing gloves with the same eye pattern sewn onto the backs and palms of them, and they were wearing black boots which seemingly made no noise as he walked.

“My most humble apologies, Lord Michael Angelson,” The man said, bowing. He then stood up straight. “Are you sure that this is what you desire?”

“What’s the point in asking that at this stage?” Michael asked, slightly annoyed. “Do it.”

The man laughed quietly and walked over to the edge of the rooftop. “While you might think it is pointless, I am professionally obligated to ask you that you are sure that this is what you desire. Is this what you want to use the Brotherhood’s wish for?” Michael nodded. “Very well.”

The man looked over the city and the red eye on his mask began to glow. The light began to glow brighter and brighter as a red energy gathered over his body. Then, the energy shot across the city in a gigantic wave, washing over every single building in the city all the way across the bay to Ferris.

Once the energy passed over Ferris, it disappeared.

“Michael Angelson, your wish has been granted,” The man said, taking his leave.

Once he was gone, Michael looked down at the scar on his arm and scowled.

“After today, it all ends,” He whispered.

His Armour appeared around him and his wings expanded from his back.